Train Hurt: interesting article in NYTimes

**MadeOfOlives** · Posted On: 1/12/2007 10:42am

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/fa...1b7&ei=5087%0A

This article brings up the idea of not simply resting an injured area, but training around it, or in the case of a few doctors' recommendations, train right through it.

Even without the extreme doctor's recommendations, the take-away message is that light activity can in fact REDUCE recovery time. That even for tendinitis, which involves inflammation, moderate use of the inflamed area will actually cause your body to release anti inflammatory... stuff. Steroids?

None of this is necessarily new, but it is interesting to see it in mainstream discussion, rather than simply on internet forums requiring that you "KEEP TRAINING, *****" when complaining of an injury.

**spirez** · Posted On: 1/14/2007 6:17am

Makes sense really, although many cannot see it.

My instructor compared injuries to water, ie:

Still water in a pond will go stagnant, flowing water in a river will not

lol, it wasn't exactly like that and in no way sounded philosophical, but it's true. When you got to see a physio he doesn't tell you to sit on your arse, but instead gives you exercises to treat the affected area.

**Virus** · Posted On: 1/14/2007 8:39am

It's absolutely correct and the past few decades have seen a big change in how we go about rehabilitation. The previous paradigm was to immobilise the injured site and avoid all activity, but nowdays we try and get things moving as soon as possible. This is to allow bloodflow and stimulate the rebuilding of tissue that resistance training achieves.

When injured the first priority is to regain the full range of motion of the joint. This is because weight training with a limited range of motion will only strengthen the muscles and joints at the specific angle they are trained in and may also lead to reduced flexibility. After the joint has full ROM weight bearing activity can come into play.

**leere_form** · Posted On: 1/14/2007 9:53am

cool! i usually train through my injuries anyway, and i thought i was just being retarded. =D

**PirateJon** · Posted On: 1/15/2007 1:31pm

Originally Posted by leere_form

cool! i usually train through my injuries anyway, and i thought i was just being retarded. =D

Training while hurt isn't the same as working an injured joint through a full ROM rather than R.I.C.E.

So you may still be retarded.

:coffee2:

**Chr9is** · Posted On: 1/16/2007 12:05pm

Hmm..this is pretty interesting. I've got a bad shoulder that I'm considering training through soon. It's not 100% but its definintly getting better..anyone have experience with training through a shoulder injury?

**meataxe** · Posted On: 1/16/2007 4:46pm

Non-functional strengthening can be just the thing to fix your injury. For example, a repetitive stress injury from, say, working in a fish processing factory might benefit from stretching and light weights. But exercising it by slicing more fish would only make it worse.

I sometimes get a bit of tendonitis in my knee. When that happens, I back off training, but don't stop. Then I do some stretching and straight leg raises and it fixes itself.

This is based on my specific condition and after seeking qualified medical advice. Don't expect to get better if you go it alone.

**Judah Maccabee** · Posted On: 1/16/2007 11:44pm

The flipside is that if you train too hard while injured, you pick up bad habits from the compensating for the pain.

**meataxe** · Posted On: 1/17/2007 12:00pm

Originally Posted by Judah Maccabee

The flipside is that if you train too hard while injured, you pick up bad habits from the compensating for the pain.

Yep.

That is why the non-functional strengthening is important. Functional training (ie. keep working you main activity) could lead to the "bad habits" or worsen the injury.
:new_spira